Victor J. Polyak

Research and Academic Interests:

Speleology - the study of caves. (1) Currently, my interests
are focused primarily around paleoclimatology of the southwestern United
States through the study of stalagmites and other speleothems. Caves
of the Guadalupe Mountains, such as Carlsbad Cavern, contain abundant carbonate
deposits, including some of the largest, morphologically unique, and mineralogically
interesting speleothems to be found anywhere. Annual banding, subfossils,
mineralogy, and isotope geochemistry preserved in these speleothems are
allowing us to construct the Holocene and Late Pleistocene climate for
the southwestern United States. (2) Another area of my studies involves
the timing of speleothem growth in the Grand Canyon caves, which will yield
useful and new information related to the rate of canyon incision by the
Colorado River. (3) In addition to the above, I have a great interest in
sulfur-related speleogenesis, cave minerals and speleothems, and lava tube
cave features.